Behind Sharingan Eyes
by Misty Tathren
Summary: Spoilers!   Itachi feels sentimental before his final battle with his little brother.


_**AN: Songfic. Song: Behind Blue Eyes (The Who) Spoilers from (about) chapters 380 to 403. Don't read if you don't want spoilers. Otherwise, go crazy. First person; Itachi feels very sentimental before he heads out to fight Sasuke for the second and final time.**_

**No one knows what it's like**  
**To be the bad man**  
**To be the sad man**  
**Behind blue eyes**

I picked up the dusty old photograph of Sasuke, and brushed it off. The frame was the same as it had been six years ago, when it was first taken.

_It was a pleasant Saturday in August. The wind blew softly up in the tree. There was an excellent view of practically everything, but my attention was on my family, directly below me._

_My mother sighed. "Come on Sasuke, smile. The sooner you smile, the sooner we can go out for onigiri."_

Mmm... onigiri…_ I thought._

_Sasuke shook his head. "Nii-san isn't here. He should be in the picture too."_

"_I know, dear, but Itachi isn't here; here's on an important mission for the ANBU."_

"_That's the problem," he muttered. "It's always about the _mission_."_

_Mikoto turned to the camera man. "I'm sorry," she apologized._

"_No, that's quite all right," he grinned easily. "I'll wait all day for him to smile."_

_My stomach grumbled. I hadn't eaten all day. The promised onigiri was sounding even better now. I couldn't resist the urge. I leapt down from the tree, and landed softly behind Sasuke. My mother and the man glanced at me, but did nothing to show their acknowledgment. Mother nudged the man, who hurriedly went back to his camera. Sasuke was still pouting when I crept up behind him. I smirked, and leaned in next to him. "Hello, Sasuke. Did you miss me?"_

"_Nii-san!" he shrieked, smiling broadly._

_I returned the gesture, and sat next to him. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Let's get this picture done, and then we can go out for that onigiri."_

"_Okay, nii-san!"_

_I hugged him, and Sasuke was so overjoyed, you could feel it simply radiating off of his skin._

_The camera flashed._

I recalled the week before his first time at the Academy.

"_Nii-san, where are we going?" Sasuke giggled, holding my hand. I gave him the look, and the child beamed. "I know where we're going!" he squealed delightedly._

_I allowed my lips to twitch in a smile. "Of course you do," I said, ruffling my brother's raven black hair._

"_Why are we going there? Is it because of something important?"_

"_Sort of," I replied._

"_Why, nii-san?" he pestered._

"_Well," I started slowly, "It's probably the last time we'll see each other for a while. I have an important mission tomorrow, and I won't see you until after school starts at the Academy."_

"_Right, nii-san…" Sasuke murmured._

_I patted his shoulder. "Hey, come on, that's not until tomorrow, right?"_

_He sniffled as he raised his head. "Yeah. Not until tomorrow."_

"_I'll race you there," I said, trying to raise his spirits. "I bet I'll beat you."_

"_No you won't," Sasuke boasted. "I'm the fastest of my friends."_

"_That might be true, but are you faster than me, __otouto?"_

_His eyes glinted with excitement in reply._

"_Ready… set…"_

"_Go!" we yelled._

_I allowed Sasuke to pull in front of me at a full sprint._

"_Come on, nii-san, you're getting too old!" he laughed._

"_Come back here, __otouto!__" I chuckled, my shoes clacking on the gravel road._

A small grin touched my face, and tears of happiness threatened to break my calm exterior, but the danger quickly faded as another, less pleasant, memory flooded in.

**And no one knows**  
**What it's like to be hated**  
**To be fated to telling only lies**

_Sasuke and I were sitting on the edge of the porch, his feet dangling above the ground, my own planted firmly. Father had recently griped at Sasuke for not coming home on time, and for forgetting his homework at school._

"_How come Father always thinks I'm just a pain?" he asked me. "He always thinks you're the best."_

_I hesitated. I didn't want him to know that he favored me because of my mission from the Village. Not yet. "That's because you haven't proven yourself to him. He'll come around soon enough."_

"_What do you mean, prove myself?"_

"_After you were born, I had the highest grades at the Academy in the history of Kohana. He has high expectations for you."_

"_I guess… But you never forgot to take your homework home." He blushed, but it wasn't out of embarrassment; his fists were clenched._

"_When you're not around, all he does is talk about you. He even said he'd help with the fireball jutsu later this week," I said, trying to cheer him up a bit. My attempts were futile. "Look, Sasuke," I wrapped my arm around his shoulders. "__You and I are flesh and blood. I'm always going to be there for you, even if it's only as an obstacle for you to overcome."_

_My brother continued to watch the ground, swinging his legs self-consciously.  
_

"_Even if you do hate me, that's what big brothers are for."_

**But my dreams, they aren't as empty**  
**As my conscience seems to be**

I couldn't control myself. Tears dripped off of my face onto the smooth glass. I heard Kisame shift over a bit to get a better look at me.

"Hey, Itachi, you okay?" he rumbled.

"Yes," I told him shortly.

"All right…"

There was a pause.

"Are you _sure _you're okay? You don't have to fight tomorrow, if you don't feel up to it." His voice wasn't mocking, as it should have been; it was quiet with unease.

**I have hours, only lonely**  
**My love is vengeance**  
**That's never free**

"No, we're going-," An untimely cough interrupted my sentence. I winced. "To go through with it."

"Hn," He grunted, unconvinced.

Another cough rattled through me, and the repulsive taste of iron followed. I slid my hand into my cloak, feeling around for my medication.

"Where'd it go…?" I muttered to myself, suppressing yet _another _wheeze.

Kisame appeared at my side, and held out a small black container. "You left them at the headquarters when we left. Konan-chan brought them by this morning." He appeared to want to say more, but didn't.

I mentally shrugged, and snatched the case out of his hand. I popped it open, and picked out a single black, circular pill. _This will be the last one I will ever take, if all goes to plan tomorrow._ I dropped it into my mouth, and swallowed. _Sasuke will be able to defeat Madara, and he will protect Kohana from further corruption. He will have the Eternal Sharingan, and nothing will harm him... _My counterpart brought me back to reality with a gentle touch on my shoulder.

"Come on, Itachi. We should start heading out."

I nodded, and replaced the portrait. Taking a deep breath, I strode out into the sunlight, and Kisame trailed after me.

**_AN: So... did you like it? I had fun and cried a bit while I was writing it. Google "Behind Blue Eyes" and listen to the song. You'll understand why I chose it for Itachi-sama. 3 Please review!_**


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